SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL UPDATES

Solomon Islands

It’s hard to judge whether the Solomon Islands are more thrilling from land or under the sea: the country is in the world’s top five for fish and coral diversity, but its deep green forests lining sandy white beaches also house more species than most Pacific Island nations. But if no action is taken, the country’s beauty and natural resources could soon disappear.

About Photo: Willie Atu, Project Manager for The Nature Conservancy’s Solomon Islands program, on a beach in the Arnavon Islands of the Solomon Islands. The Conservancy works with the national government of the Solomon Islands, as well as local governing bodies and various local councils and communities, to save sea turtles and plan for sustainability.

Regional demand from across Asia for timber, tuna, sea turtle eggs, and other commodities has helped fuel deforestation and overfishing in the Solomon Islands — today, entire forests have been leveled, some of the world’s richest coral reefs are in jeopardy, and the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle is fighting for survival.

In addition, we work with the Solomon Islands government to advance national legislation and policies that will protect the country’s natural resources and ensure lasting food security for the people of the Solomon Islands.

Double the Sea Turtles!

We’ve also helped inspire a community-based sea change in the Arnavon Islands region. A small chain of islands lying between Choiseul and Isabel Provinces, the Arnavons are the most important nesting grounds for critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtles in the South Pacific. But, these nesting grounds had become hotly contested by local tribes who overhunted sea turtles to supply global markets over the past two centuries.

In 1992, local leaders recognized the need for change and reached out to the Conservancy, since we’re known round the world for bringing people together to find workable solutions. We assisted them in forming the Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area (ACMCA) in 1995: the Pacific’s first community-based marine protected area. The ACMCA has since united the once-fractious communities behind a shared commitment to keeping the Arnavons off-limits to fishing and protecting the islands’ threatened sea turtle populations.

As a result, local people are now finding employment as conservation officers, and the number of Hawksbill sea turtle nests that are laid annually in the Arnavons has doubled. Populations of giant clams, sea cucumbers and oysters have also risen. In 2011, with the ACMCA fully self-sufficient, the Conservancy formally passed the management torch to a board composed of local community members.